Why we're suing the CIA

After 10,000 requests, MuckRock launches its first lawsuit

Help our new investigation into domestic surveillance

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We're pretty proud of the first milestone, which is result of four years of hard work, creativity, and persistence by both our amazing users and the small, dedicated staff at MuckRock. And I think the results are a testament to what can happen when the public records process works.

We've published over 324,000 pages of documents, hours of video, dozens of databases, and built a free, publicly accessible database of thousands of government agencies at the state, local, and federal level, with the largest public database of U.S. public records requests freely available to model even more requests on.

And thanks to the thousands of hard working public access officers - for many of whom that work is only a small component of their job - that's all been possible without a lawsuit.

But the Central Intelligence Agency has a track record of holding itself apart from, and largely above, the Freedom of Information Act, consistently ignoring deadlines, refusing to work with requesters, and capriciously rejecting even routine requests for what should be clearly public information.

We hope to change that. Specifically, we are suing over a number of specific requests:

FOIA Request No. F-2010-00600, similar to the above, except for records demonstrating how the CIA processed over 100 records responsive to a single request which it ultimately decided to withhold in full.

Classification Management Tools User Manual, which would provide important insight into how the CIA determines what is and isn't releasable, and would help craft requests that properly protect national security while still allowing public oversight.

Additionally, we are suing against the CIA's general practice of rejecting requests for email records which do not include the time frame, subject, and to and from fields, regardless of what other information is including to help narrow the request. This practice replaces the required functional test for whether or not a request reasonably describes the records sought with a per se test that automatically rejects any request for email records based on whether or not it includes all four pieces of information, virtually ensuring that vast amounts of CIA email records go unprocessed and unreleased.

We are deeply grateful and indebted to Kel McClanahan of National Security Counselors, who has agreed to represent us Pro Bono in this case and who has already put in numerous hours (often late nights on weekends, given our emailing) to help prepare us for this suit. The full suit is available below.